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Psalm 80:1-7
Advent 4C
If you pay close attention to the Psalm readings across the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary, then you know the Lectionary likes Psalm 80. But it never manages to assign the whole psalm. Either you get just the first seven verses (as here for Advent 4C) or nine verses from the middle of…
Micah 5:2-5
Advent 4C
Illustration: Depending on how churches structure their worship services for the holidays, this may function as a kind-of Christmas preview or, at least, one last Sunday before the Christmas Eve or Christmas Day celebrations. So you might riff on those expectations a bit. If you have the opportunity to solicit answers and foster a bit…
Isaiah 12:2-6
Advent 3C
For the second Sunday in a row the Year C Advent Lectionary does not have an actual Psalm assigned but instead another psalm-like passage. Last week it was Zechariah’s song from Luke 1 and today on this Third Advent Sunday it is a lyric passage from Isaiah 12. This chapter of course follows on the…
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Advent 3C
A Pastoral Word: The Christmas season can be difficult for those grieving, lonely, struggling financially. In fact, any time of year is difficult for those in distress. But the particular difficulty of Christmas is the temptation to throw tinsel and lights on the outside without attending to the realities on the inside. For this reason,…
Malachi 3:1-4
Advent 2C
Commentary: Advent is most commonly referred to as a season of waiting. But the minor prophets don’t let us off that easy. They rightly point out that there is a world of difference between waiting and preparing.As little kids, we thought the waiting was the hard part. As adults, we’ve learned that waiting around with…
Psalm 25:1-10
Advent 1C
The Revised Common Lectionary likes the first 10 or so verses of the 25th Psalm. Psalm 25:1-9 or 1-10 occur at least once each in Years A, B, and C. The last time we saw this was earlier in 2024 when these exact same verses were assigned for the First Sunday in Lent in Year…
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Advent 1C
In Those Days… The first Sunday in Advent welcomes us into the work of waiting. The first Sunday of Advent can often feel like a rude awakening. In the US context, those who hold to a no-Christmas-music-until-after-Thanksgiving have likely already heard their favorite carols blaring over the loudspeakers at the shopping mall. They may have…
Psalm 93
Proper 29B
What a lot gets packed into these five short verses of the 93rd Psalm! This poem is an obvious choice for Christ the King / Reign of Christ Sunday as we close out another liturgical year and conclude the Year B cycle of the Lectionary. The whole psalm is about the nature of God as…
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Proper 29B
Commentary: How are we meant to read the text of Daniel 7? Is it a history book, a mystery novel, an algebra equation? Or is it poetry? Well, how would Daniel’s original audience have received the vision? Context Daniel wrote for Israelites in Babylonian exile, about 600 years before Christ’s birth. They knew the story…
Daniel 12:1-3
Proper 28B
Where and What Is It? Imagine my surprise as I went to my trusty 3-volume commentary on Hebrew Scripture written by Jewish scholar, Robert Alter and couldn’t find the book of Daniel. Obviously, I pulled his volume on the prophets but the book of Daniel was not where it belonged! So I opened his book…
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